Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Out of These Ashes

A jumbled mess.

A pile of rubbish.

A collection of worthless things.

An array of oddments confronted with ruin.

Set to flame.

Intense heat rising.

Burning.

Take all that is in me that is not of You, O my God.

Burn away that which separates and hinders.

In the midst of fire, still, this is my prayer.

Reveal Your beauty.

Make Your glory known.

"To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord,
that He may be glorified"
Isaiah 61:3

3 friends had this to say:

Sharon said...

Shelly - REALLY liked this. Refining is so hard - I feel like I'm in that process now over a few things that God's really working on. I want to have courage, and claim this one line from your post as my deepest, heartfelt prayer:
"Take all that is in me that is not of You, O my God."

Yes, Shelly - I want to be a tree, planted by the Lord.

GOD BLESS YOU!

N Abram said...

Take all that is in me that is not of You, O my God.Burn away that which separates and hinders.
Hi Shelly, thanks for sharing. This thought has been on my mind for a few days! Blessings

Shelly said...

Sharon and Nicky...thanks! Yes, refining is not a fun process, but the end result has the potential to be so beautiful, if we will only holdfast and keep our eyes on Him. Refine us, O Lord, that Your glory might be revealed in and through us! I am saying a prayer for you both tonight....